Bridgeport, Conn. (August 16, 2015) -- Mayor Bill Finch announced that Chipotle Mexican Grill and Bass Pro Shops – which are slated to open new stores at Bridgeport's Steelpointe Harbor later this year – will be hosting job fairs over the next two weeks.

Mayor Finch was joined by representatives from the Connecticut Department of Labor and Career Resources at a press conference announcing the job fairs on Friday, August 14.

“Bridgeport is getting better every day,” said Mayor Finch. “And, investors and job creators are taking notice. Steelpointe Harbor is finally happening. And, new jobs are resulting from the business-friendly environment we’re creating.”

Chipotle Mexican Grill – which has over 800 locations nationwide and was named by health.com as one of the healthiest restaurants in America – will be holding a job fair for its new Bridgeport location on Monday, August 17 and Monday, August 24 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at 350 Fairfield Avenue.

In addition, Chipotle Mexican Grill will host a job fair at 999 Broad Street on Thursday, August 27.

Bass Pro Shops – which has nearly 90 locations nationwide and is listed on the Forbes.com list of best employers in America – will be hosting a job fair for its new Bridgeport location on Monday, August 17, Tuesday, August 18, and Wednesday, August 19 from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at 910 Fairfield Avenue.

Between the stores and restaurants that are slated to open on Steelpointe Harbor in 2015 – Bass Pro Shops, Chipotle, Starbucks, and T-Mobile – one thousand jobs are being created in Bridgeport.

“I encourage residents looking for good paying jobs to attend these job fairs,” said Mayor Finch. “My administration has worked very hard to make Steelpointe a reality and to bring these jobs to Bridgeport.”

History of Steel Point and the Steelpointe Harbor development

Steel Point – now home to the Steelpointe Harbor development – is a peninsula ringed by waterfront along Yellow Mill Channel and the Pequonnock River with the Long Island Sound on its southern edge and I-95 and the city’s East Side on the north end.

Shipbuilding began on the banks of this area in the early 1700’s.

Around the 1770’s, a wharf and store were built in this location. And in the late 1800’s, the peninsula was booming with commerce.

From 1985-89, with Thomas Bucci as mayor, a new feasibility study of Harbor Pointe was ordered. But ongoing uncertainty about UI's plans for its Steel Point power plant and an impending financial crisis in the city combined to halt progress.

Once the economy began to rebound nationally and locally in the mid-1990’s, the development name changed from Harbor Pointe to make way for the $1 billion Harbor Place.

However, due to corruption scandals that rocked Bridgeport in the late 1990s and early 2000s, development at Steel Point stalled.

But after taking office in 2003, Mayor John Fabrizi attracted a new developer and jump-started long-stalled negotiations to acquire critical property on the harbor.

The biggest strides in the project have been made under the leadership of Mayor Finch. Since taking office in 2007, the project has advanced significantly.

After taking office, Mayor Finch decided to address redevelopment of Steel Point, Steelpointe Harbor, in four development phases.

The $50 million first phase of Steelpointe Harbor, which includes Bass Pro Shops, Starbucks, Chipotle and T-Mobile is currently underway and will open this year.

Construction on the Cinepolis movie theater and other components of the second phase will begin in 2016 with an anticipated opening in 2017.

Dredging work on the Bridgeport Harbor is also now finally moving forward with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers developing the plan.

The dredging work that is moving forward at Bridgeport Harbor for the first time in a half-century – once complete – will bring in more commerce, more large employers, and more jobs to the city – once complete.